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(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storm protection equipment such as hurricane shutters or storm shutters, which protects glass windows, doors or other openings from violent storms or from burglary.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Hurricanes or other violent storms have created tremendous damage to homes, businesses, buildings, etc due to high winds over the last several years. The violent storms have caused the loss of life, in addition have cost the United States billions of dollars in disaster aid. The insurance companies have had to pay claims in the billions of dollars due to the violent storms, which in the case of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 bankrupted several insurance companies. The United States formed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide disaster aid after a major event such as a hurricane. FEMA is mandated to encourage and fund hazard mitigation, by preventing or minimizing damage prior to the event. One of the simplest mitigation option is to install hurricane shutters on the windows and doors to prevent building damage. The hurricane shutters provide protection to the windows or openings from the high winds, rains and also from flying debris. The flying or wind borne debris can act as a missile piercing the structures. Most debris will not pierce the structural wall of a building, but if the debris hits a window, the building""s structural integrity is compromised. In the extreme winds of a hurricane, a broken window can allow damaging wind and rain to enter the building and put extreme design strains on the roof. The roof is not designed to accept forces from within the building, such as the case when a window is broken during a hurricane situation. In some cases, this breach in the structure can cause the roof to detach from the house or have severe damage that would not have otherwise occurred.
Home Owners and business owners are looking for cost-effective methods and easy to use devices to protect their home, families and businesses during a hurricane. One of the methods is a hurricane shutter or some type of covering for the window to prevent high winds and rain from entering the building. One of most cost-effective method is the use of plywood, which is firmly attached to the building by nails or screws. This will provide some protection, however the plywood is very difficult and very time consuming to install. There are safety concerns with plywood since the plywood is often left on the windows through the entire hurricane season. If a fire occurs within the building, it is difficult to escape out the window if the plywood is still attached. Other methods to protect the windows or doors in a building are the use of hurricane or storm shutters. There are basically four kinds of hurricane shutters available on the market today; Storm Panel, Accordion Shutters, Colonial/Bahama Shutters, and Roll-Up Shutters. There are several advantages and disadvantages for each system.
Storm Panels are either galvanized or aluminum steel corrugated steel panels that are installed over the window. The advantage of this system is that they are relatively inexpensive. The disadvantage of this system is they are not easily installed due to heavy weight and size and are time consuming to install. They are often left on during the hurricane season causing a hazard for the occupants of the building in the case of fire or any other incident, similar to the plywood panels.
Accordion Shutters are generally made of galvanized steel that form an accordion shape when opening and closing. The advantage of this system is the ease of operation and they are generally permanently attached for which requires no installation prior to a storm. The disadvantage of the system is that it often does not match the exterior design of the building and the cost is significantly more than the storm panels.
The colonial/Bahama shutters are made of wood, metal or a synthetic material that is permanently attached to building and are incorporated into the exterior window of the building. They are essentially solid shutters that are closed over the windows during a storm. The advantage of the system is the ease of operation, cost effectiveness, in some cases, and they are permanently attached. The disadvantage of this system is that the panels do not fit many exterior designs of buildings from an aesthetics view. The bahama shutters also limit the amount of light that can enter a window as well as distract from the view, which is not acceptable to many homeowners.
The final type of hurricane shutter is the roll-up, which has several metal panels connected that can be rolled up into a cover. The shutter is permanent and can be motorized for ease of use. The advantage of this system is the ease of operation and that it is permanently installed. The disadvantage is the high cost of the shutter and they require periodic maintenance to ensure operation.
An example of an accordion shutter is in U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,185 by Robinson and Tillit, Sep. 28, 1999 with their deployable and stackable accordion shutter system. The merits of this invention are that it can be deployed quickly and easily and not take up much space within the window space. As stated above, the cost of this type of shutter is expensive. The present invention has similar objects or goals as the U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,185, however is approached differently using flexible high strength materials such as high strength fabrics and different types of hardware instead of using metal panels and guides. The common goal is to provide a costeffective and easy to use window or wall opening barrier that will meet the strict code requirements. Although U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,185 has its merits, the cost of the shutter is much more expensive than the present invention and has limitations on uses, as stated above.
There are no specific prior art that is similar to the present invention in the specific design and purpose. There are prior art that provide the same objective of the present invention, however they are not similar in design. Whatever the precise merits, features and advantages of the above cited references and types of shutters, none of them achieve or fulfill the purposes of the present invention.
The present invention has been developed to meet the requirements of ease of operation, ease of installation and cost-effectiveness. The expected cost for the present invention is to be less thean storm panels, but cost more than plywood. The present invention can be permanently installed or temporarily installed depending on the architecture of the building and building owner""s preference. The current shutters available on the market are either classified as ease of operation or cost-effective. The present invention provides ease of use and cost effectiveness. With the present invention, the cost of the invention will be within the reach of many homeowners or building owners. In addition, the ease of use will promote the use of wind and rain protection during all types of storms, whether category 5 Hurricanes or severe thunderstorms. This will equate to less damage and less insurance claims or disaster aid. More importantly, this will lead to less devastation for affected families and business owners.
This invention relates to an original design for an exterior covering of wall openings for use in protecting all wall openings in buildings from severe wind and rain damage or from wind bonie objects during storms, such as hurricanes and from burglary. The design involves using a flexible high strength material such as high strength fabric that is expanded over the covering providing the necessary protection from hurricane force winds and wind borne debris, as well as providing a protective barrier from burglary.
A high strength flexible material, such as a high strength fabric, is secured to a rigid circular element such as a steel rod at one end and secured to a rigid element such as a steel bar at the other end. The steel rod and steel bar are connected to wall by some means such as brackets, on either side of the wall opening to secure the steel rod and the steel bar to the wall. When the high strength fabric, with the steel rod are placed in the brackets on one end, the high strength fabric is pulled over the wall opening to the other bracket and the steel bar portion is inserted into the bracket. Using the rotational transmission system such as a gear system, and engaging a means to maintain the rigid circular element""s position such as ratchet system or a pawl, and a wrench is used to tighten the high strength fabric by rotating the steel rod which is secured to the high strength fabric. Once the high strength fabric is significantly tight, the ratchet system will maintain the position of the rod thus ensuring tightness. The tight high strength flexible material or fabric creates a strong barrier against flying debris and against the fierce wind that occurs during a storm. The high strength fabric used for the device is much less expensive than current aluminum panels based on per square foot costs, therefore even with the additional hardware it would provide the most cost effective, manufactured xe2x80x9cHurricane Shutterxe2x80x9d available. There are several high strength fabrics in the market today, which will be applicable, such as Geomembranes that are used in oil tank dike areas, as liners for protection of the environment from potential spills. The Geomembrane materials must be high strength since they must endure large trucks driving on the materials, and must be tear resistant to avoid any breach in the lining and potential enviromnental problem. There are also automobile airbag materials that must endure high impact without tearing. There are several high strength fabrics on the market that are inexpensive and provide the necessary strength required for the present invention.
In addition, the protective cover assembly has the strength to deter burglars from entering the building when installed with a locking mechanism. The protective cover assembly can be locked and it will deter unlawful entry into a building.